Owner Comments:
DESCRIPTION
DATE: 1732
RULER: Philip V
ASSAYER: F-Filipe Rivas de Angulo
WEIGHT: 13.2g.
THE 1735 SHIPWRECK OF THE DUTCH EAST INDIAMAN VILEGNTHART
The above coin was recovered from the wreck of the Dutch ship VILEGNTHART.
On May 5,1730 The Vliegenthart (Flying Hart) was launched as the newest addition to the impressive fleet of the Dutch East India Company. She was about 145 feet long and 36 feet wide. Like other ships in the fleets, the Vliegenthart was designed for the long and dangerous journey to the other side of the world. Due the threat of attack, the Vliegenthart was heavily armed with 42 guns. The Vliegenthart made her first journey to the East Indies in late 1731, returning to the Dutch port of Rammekens in the province of Zeeland in August 1734.
After being refitted over the winter months, the Vliegenthart left Netherlands once again for the East Indies on February 3, 1735. On board were 167 seamen, 83 soldiers, and six passengers plus a small treasure hoard of gold and silver coins that would be used to trade for silk and spices and precious gems. However, the Vliegenthart and her smaller companion ship the Anna Catharina never left Dutch waters. With a strong gale blowing, both ships were accompanied by a pilot boat, Mercurius, whose orders were to steer the vessels through the treacherous sand banks of the Schelder and to stay with them until they reached the open water and the Isle of Wight. However, the deadly combination of a Northeast gale, a Spring tide and pilot error sent her onto a sandbar behind her sister ship. The latter ship broke apart while the Vliegenthart damaged and firing her cannons in distress, slipped off the sandbar and quickly sank in 10 fathoms (60 feet) of water. The sinkings were almost certainly due to pilot error, as the ships should have been in open water before darkness, Everyone of the 461 sailors, soldiers and merchants aboard perished.
Salvage attempts were made but were unsuccessful accept they did turn up a secret map that did not emerge from obscurity until 1977. A London attorney, Rex Cowan, discovered the wreck in 1981, and in 1983 found their first coins , one of three chests of Mexican silver and Dutch gold coins totaling 67,000 guilders. The second chest was smashed on the seabed and it's contents partially salvaged, while the third chest, intact like the first, came up in 1992. Among the silver coins found were thousands of Mexican cobs, predominantly 8 Reales, many with clear dates in the early 1730s and mostly in excellent condition.